I. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to a coin chute assembly in which a plurality of removable sizing inserts are positioned within a sizing block for sizing coins, thereby permitting coins of an acceptable diameter to effect operation of an appliance to which the assembly is mounted.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Coin chute assemblies are usually installed on commercial appliances such as clothes washers, dryers, vending machines, and the like. The assembly typically is enclosed within a housing mounted on the appliance or machine. The assembly includes a coin chute having a coin slide reciprocally mounted in a guide track for inserted and retracted movement. The coin slide is formed having one or more coin receiving slots whereby the presence of an appropriately sized coin in the slot is operative to allow inward or inserted movement of the coin slide to the operate position thereof. The inner end of the coin slide is provided with an operator for actuating the appliance or machine upon continued inserted movement of the slide inwardly of the assembly to its operate position.
The housing of the assembly usually is provided with a locked coin drawer which prevents unauthorized access to a coin receptacle located below and in spaced relation to the coin slide. The arrangement is such that the coins necessary to operate the appliance or machine are carried by the coin slide upon inserted movement of the slide to its operate position whereupon the coins exit from the assembly through suitable openings thereby to be transmitted to the coin receptacle.
For coin chute assemblies operable by coins disposed in a vertical position, it is customary to provide a coin sizing block having a camming surface disposed above and in predetermined spaced relation with respect to a pivotally mounted blocking dog so as to permit displacement of the dog to a non-blocking position only when an appropriately sized coin is advanced toward the inserted operative position of the coin slide. Specifically, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,712,440 dated Jan. 23, 1973 in the name of Harry Greenwald, the camming surface is defined by the bottom end of a set screw for engaging the periphery of a coin carried by the coin slide. The set screw is adjustably positioned within a threaded bore so that the spacing between the camming surface and the blocking dog is slightly less than the diameter of a properly sized coin required to operate the assembly. That is, upon inserted movement of the coin slide, the camming surface of the set screw displaces a properly sized coin downwardly. In doing so, the associated blocking dog is displaced to an amount sufficient to move out of the path of travel of the coin slide to permit the slide to be advanced to its operate position. The coin sizing arrangement in this '440 patent requires a skilled technician to position the set screw for proper spacing relative to the blocking dog. There also is a tendency for the set screw to move from its set position upon repeated use of the coin chute assembly thereby requiring frequent servicing of the assembly.
Another coin sizing block configuration is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 4,502,584 dated Mar. 5, 1985 in the name of Christos Lambiris. The camming surface in this patent is defined by inverted V-shaped notches or grooves provided in a sizing block fixed in position above the guide track. The notches are aligned with the coin receiving slots in the coin slide. There also is provided a plurality of pivotally mounted blocking dogs along the guide track wherein each dog is aligned with a separate one of the coin slots and with a separate one of the notches in the sizing block. The dogs are biased into a normal blocking position in the path of travel of the slide, and are disposed for movement from their blocking position to a displaced non-blocking position. The arrangement is such that inserted movement of the coin slide causes a properly sized coin to ride onto the corresponding blocking dog with the upper edge of the coin received in and engaging the corresponding notch in the sizing block. The spacing between the notch and the dog is such as to cause the engaged coin to press down against the corresponding dog and move said dog to its displaced non-blocking position.
If the coin chute assembly of the '584 patent accommodates only coins of the same size; that is the same denomination, all of the V-shaped notches or grooves in the coin sizing block will be of equal size and depth. However, if the coin chute is configured to accept coins of more than one size, the size and depth of the V-shaped notches or grooves must match the coins' dimensions accordingly. Furthermore, the relative position to each other of two or more different size coins can vary depending on ease of operation and the customer's preference. As a consequence, the sizing block arrangement of this patent can be somewhat expensive since it necessitates that a potentially large number of sizing blocks be manufactured and kept in inventory in order to suit the many combinations of coin sizes and coin positions for operating the coin chute assembly.
The present invention represents an improvement over the heretofore known assemblies by having a universal sizing block configured to receive a plurality of sizing inserts. These inserts can be replaced to accommodate any desired configuration of coins needed for operating the coin chute assembly without requiring the cost of having a separate sizing block for each such configuration.